Work Text:
There is nothing to fear but fear itself… and death. And biology.
Alexander tapped his pen on the corner of his paper and tried not to chew on his lip. The same biology problem had been staring him down for twenty minutes, and he was reaching the end of his already short fuse. He could finish an essay in the same amount of time a single bio problem took, and it was beyond frustrating.
He hazarded a glance across the classroom when he heard a chair’s feet screech their way across the floor. Immediately he set his jaw and went back to glaring at his exam, not wanting to see John get up and leave when he still had at least a page left.
Inside, Alexander knew that John wouldn’t be disappointed, even if Alex only finished half of the test and needed hours of tutoring help. Not that Alex would ever let himself fall so far behind. Still, he wished he could be as quick at this as his boyfriend was. As much as Alexander lived for being able to help John on his English work, he couldn't make himself accept help like John seemed to.
So Alexander steeled his jaw and resisted looking up even as John passed him on his way out, John’s hand lightly brushing Alexander’s shoulder in a way that still make his heart bounce a bit. And he worked.
When he slid the test across his teacher’s desk, Alexander had no more confidence in it than he had in any of Jefferson’s suggestions in ASB, but he was done. Scooping his bag over one shoulder and smiling to the teacher half-heartedly, Alexander made his way into the hallway, hand already reaching into his pocket to fish out his phone. He needed to see where John was so that they could meet up. There was a paper due for their English course at six, and although Alex was pretty sure he could just wing his, there was the matter of—
“Alex! Leaving without me? I’m heartbroken.” Alexander jumped slightly when he felt a hand grab onto one of his bag’s straps. “I know you probably wrote your essay two weeks ago, but we can’t all be you.”
Alexander relaxed when he recognized John’s voice, and the other boy let go of his bag to hold his hand instead.
“Would never leave without you,” Alexander promised. He raised an eyebrow. “But I’ll have you know that you’ll wish I would when we get that bio test back.”
It was a joke. Kind of. But every time he got less than perfect, any time he had to ask Eliza or John (or anyone else for that matter) to help him… Well, then it became less of a joke. He needed to prove things, constantly, and even though John always acted like there was nothing he needed to prove to him, it was hard. Because there was a little voice in the back of his mind that disagreed.
“Hey, if you don’t let me help you with something, I might go crazy,” John warned, “And I could say the same about this english paper. You’re my saving grace.”
“Happy to help.”
“And so am I.”
“Really?” Alexander stopped for a moment and looked at his boyfriend carefully.
John smiled and pressed a light kiss to Alex’s forehead, rolling his eyes playfully afterward. “Of course, really.”
“Thank you.”
John only answered with a wink and a tug in the direction of the library. They had studying to do.